Jennifer Custer (District 1)
Section 1 - Basic Information & General Questions
Candidate's Name Jennifer Custer
District 1
Campaign link Jennifercuster.com
Are you a current or recent CPS parent, grandparent, or guardian/caregiver? CPS parent
Are you a CPS graduate? No
Have you ever served on a Local School Council (LSC)? No
Have you ever served on a Parent Advisory Committee (PAC)? No
Have you ever served on a Bilingual Advisory Committee (BAC)? No
Have you ever served on a Community Action Council (CAC)? No
Have you ever worked in a CPS school? No
How long have you lived in the district you are running to represent? 6 years
Describe your CPS experience.
My CPS experience includes being a CPS parent to my oldest son. My second son is soon to start his own CPS journey next year.
Why are you running for the Board of Education?
I am running so that all students have access to a high quality education, regardless of where they live. I am running to grow our student academically. I am running to insure that our students have a well-rounded education, and access to extra curricular and sports. Working together with the parents, communities, and CPS, we can have a vision for our district that upholds our strong values for our children’s education.
What is the most pressing challenge our district is facing?
The most pressing challenge will be to right the district budget so we are in a good financial position for many years to come.
Section 2 - Board Responsibilities & Commitments
How will you interact with CPS students and families in your district to ensure that the voices of the most impacted are heard and understood?
This will be a critical part of this new school board. Hosting community events, visiting schools, and creating spaces with authentic and meaningful interaction will be important to keeping that line of communication open. Using our LSCs will be another great way to keep ties of community and board together.
What specific actions will you take to address and repair the historical harms within Chicago Public Schools, and how will you ensure that students, parents, and educators are actively engaged in the healing and trust-building process?
This begins with changing the culture in our schools. This can be done by setting a shared mission and vision with the board and the district. Setting goals we are working toward together that lift up that mission and vision sets everyone up to work together. When we work together we are stronger, and able to accomplish so much.
What is your understanding of the Board’s relationship with Local School Councils? How will you collaborate with LSCs in your district?
Local School Councils are made up of multiple stakeholders in the community. This is a great way to solicit input from different areas around the city about their schools. This includes parents, teachers and other community members. Trusting them to go out and speak with their neighbors and friends about the vision for their schools provides communication back to board representatives to speak with the district leadership about what the communities really want for their children. And I see this as a powerful tool for change.
List the Board committees you intend to join and describe any new Board committees you will propose.
I would be very interested in seeing more committees to serve the needs of students come about on the Board. The Special Education Committee is very important, but I would also like to see committees on student achievement formed, on intergovernmental relationships, buildings and grounds, and even policy.
How will you prioritize your time to ensure you give your role on the Board of Education the attention it deserves?
Currently I stay home with my children, so I feel I have ample time to dedicate to this role.
Section 3 - Budget & Facilities
What are your thoughts on the current proposed district budget for SY24-25? As a board member, where would you look to increase funding and where would you make budget cuts?
The budget is going to be an issue that will take years to fix. But one way to begin this process is by offloading the pension burden that currently sits on the budget. This is a multi-million dollar burden that no other district in the state is responsible for, and this needs to be fixed. The second is going down to Springfield to lobby for the money owed to the district through the Evidenced-Based Funding model. CPS serves the most students of any kind in the state, and providing the largest district in the state with the funds they need will be critical.
Funding for CPS is in a particularly precarious situation due to state shortages to Evidence-Based Funding (EBF), the end of pandemic funding, and more. What would you prioritize when facing these overwhelming budget realities?
We need to prioritize how we are going to find these new revenue streams, but also how we are going to work within our means. A great way of achieving that is offloading the pension burden.
What experience do you have with complicated budgets?
As an Assistant Principal I helped with our building budgets and prioritizing spending. I also worked on district-wide committees where we did budgeting as well.
What will you do to ensure equitable and transparent funding for neighborhood schools?
The new equitable funding model is going to be a measure this year to see the impact it has made on some of our neighborhood schools. I am hoping to see the results from this new model, and see what more work can be done in getting resources to our schools that need it.
Many parents have expressed an urgent need for capital improvements in their schools. What steps will you take to ensure that schools have functioning facilities, particularly bathrooms and water fountains?
A needs based assessment, if it hasn’t been done, should be done to determine which buildings need the most immediate repairs. The upkeep of our buildings is so important, and has been neglected for too long. Making sure these buildings are in working order helps to be sure our students and staff have safe environments in which to learn and grow. This is one of my top priorities as a new board member.
Bussing challenges have a long and fraught history in CPS. The last few years have been particularly difficult for special education students, as well as those who attend magnet and selective enrollment schools. Given CPS’s recently announced plans for the coming school year, How do you plan to address the ongoing school bussing challenges and ensure that all students have reliable, safe, and equitable transportation to and from school?
Bussing has been a difficult issue for many school districts to tackle with driver shortages, but many other districts have used route consolidation and pick up and drop off hubs to help with the issue. I know CPS has been working on this, but the work needs to be done far enough in advance that parents aren’t being notified several days before school starts. Being competitive in our wages and benefits will draw drivers to CPS as well.
Section 4 - Educational Programs & Academic Success
How do you define a quality education?
A quality education is one that is well-rounded and includes art, STEM, CTE, and other exploratory classes. It includes a curriculum that is attainable and current, and uses research based best practices. It aligns with the Illinois and Common Core State Standards, and all children of all grades have equal access. A quality curriculum includes gifted and talented classes, as well as differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all our learners.
What is the role of the Board of Education in ensuring quality educational programs for all students regardless of their background, zip code, or school type?
The Board is responsible for collecting the ideas and values of the community and then making sure the budgetary spending mirrors those values. This means budgeting for exploratory classes in a building, and working with stakeholders to choose the best curriculum for our children. This may look different district to district, but we are responsible for making real the wants and values of the communities we serve.
What are your views on the roles of neighborhood, selective enrollment, magnet, and charter schools within CPS? Please address each type of school in your answer.
Selective Enrollment and Magnet schools serve a specific purpose and specific population of our students. That being said, they should continue to be allowed to exist as they are. This does not diminish or take away from the idea that all neighborhood schools should be fully funded, and offer our students a quality education. The children of Chicago should feel that their neighborhood schools are excellent places of education.
How should the Board approach charter oversight and accountability?
Charter schools should be held to similar academic and enrollment standards as their public school counterparts. Parents should have options on where they send their children, but any school funded by public school dollars should be held to the same standards.
The initial recommendations of the Black Student Success Working Group were shared earlier this summer. Which of those recommendations will be most important to incorporate into the district’s strategic plan and why?
The Adult Capacity and Continuous Learning domain seems the most important. First, all black students should see someone like them in the classroom. It is also imperative that staff have culturally responsive training and professional development. No matter how great the curriculum and education, black students will not learn if there is implicit bias or outright racist tendencies in the classroom. We must first work on an atmosphere of acceptance and safety before true and deep learning can take place.
How will you work to ensure special education assessments and placements are more timely and equitable?
There needs to be enough support in the special education departments to make this work happen. This means Case Managers, Social Workers, School Psychologists, etc. In order for things to be completely in a timely and equitable way, we need to have more help in these processes.
What should the Board board do to guarantee students are receiving all of their required IEP minutes?
This answer is very similar to the one above. Students need staff to be able to help with the testing and upkeep of IEP goals and minutes. Without this, there is not enough help to go around.
In 2021, even before the recent influx of asylum seekers, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) put CPS on a corrective action plan because the district was out of compliance with bilingual education requirements. To date, CPS still fails to staff bilingual programs and certified bilingual teachers at all schools that need them. What steps would you advocate for the district to take to solve this problem?
This is a challenge around the state as districts search for bilingual staff. Offering incentives for teachers who may speak another language to get certifications can help. Making sure the buildings, and even the outside communities, that serve these students understand the importance and value of dual and bilingual programs is very important as well. Students who can receive a bilingual or dual education through High School and can graduate with a seal of biliteracy are some of our most hirable young people in our global society.
How would you advocate for the reinstatement of comprehensive art, music, and library programs to our schools?
These programs serve all of our students. The arts are just as important to some as math is. We need to make sure we are offering a well-rounded education to our children. Every student deserves to have a class they love and something that offers them the feeling of success throughout the day.
Section 5 - School Culture
What do you believe is the role of the Board in fostering a culture of belonging for every CPS student?
The Board should model that for the district and the communities. A board as diverse as the schools is a great way to start that process. A board that comes in ready to uphold the values of their communities is another great way to start. Modeling working together for the betterment of students is going to be key.
What are specific steps you will propose to increase in-school mental health support for our children?
Schools need to continue their positive work with SEL curriculums and helping students to understand and regulate their emotional health. Social workers and counselors are critical to this work, also. Creating partnerships with other organizations to get students the support they need will be helpful as well.
What policies do you propose to help stop bullying in CPS schools?
Again, the work with SEL curriculums is vital. Teaching students empathy and navigating social situations helps them to better understand one another. Using peer juries and restorative justice practices also helps students take ownership of their behavior and treat one another with understanding and compassion. Building a positive and safe school cultural for all by modeling this behavior and holding high expectations for students.
What specific steps will you take to address and reduce racial bias in our schools, both in terms of pedagogy, curriculum, and disciplinary practices?
More professional development opportunities for teachers allows them to continue their education on these issues, as well. When adopting curriculums, looking at how they address these issues and choosing to spend our money wisely is important. And having restorative justice programs and peer juries in schools allows students to keep one another accountable, and teaches them how to help each other through difficult times.
Students who report sexual assault and violence in CPS schools often feel that their voices are not heard. What is your approach to ensuring meaningful accountability and what will you do to ensure that this type of violence stops?
There are ample state laws that protect students, and it is unacceptable that these would not be followed in a school building by mandated reporters. The topic of sexual assault, along with many others that include abuse or neglect of children, are serious matters and should be dealt with with the utmost care and dignity to the student, as well as be taken seriously by staff.
How do you plan to ensure that LGBT+ students are protected and supported in CPS, both in anti-discrimination policy and inclusive curricula?
All students should have the right to attend school and feel safe to be themselves and be accepted for who they are. This should be true from student to student and student to staff. All students should feel supported in the classroom, and receive a high-quality education.
Is there anything you would change about the recently adopted Whole School Safety plan? What can the Board do to ensure its implementation?
I do believe that LSCs should have the choice to adopt a building SRO if they deem it necessary to support their community and students.